Battleship.



l UEUQQ-Ql H. M. SILVEIRA.

BATTLESHIP.

APPLICATION FILED 1320.24, 1912.

Patented Dec.2, 1913.

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(inventor $3 Hen rz m. dz'weim/ H. M. SILVEIRA. BATTLESHIP.

APPLICATION FILED 3110.24, 1912.

1,080, 19 1 Patented Dec. 2, 1913.

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UNITED STATES PATENT FFICEE.

HENRY M. SILVEIRA, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

BATTLESHIP.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY M. SILVEIRA, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Battleships, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to battleships of the type especially adapted for fighting bow or stern on, as disclosed in my prior application, No. 696,495, filed May 10, 1912, of which this application is a division, and one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a novel construction of ship and arrangement of laterally movable guns, whereby the ship may be constantly maneuvered to fight bow or stern on and all inactive guns protected, thus diminishing to the minimum the amount of surface and number of guns at a time exposed to the enemys fire.

A further object of the invention is to provide a battery of guns which may be shifted from a normal keel line position to fire from either port or starboard side, and which when in normal position will be protected by their turrets and the ships armor while they are being loaded.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an arrangement of guns whereby the guns may be fired in regular order and in such manner that while one or more guns are being fired others will be protected and in position for loading and still others protected and in position to be run out for firing, whereby a constant discharge of projectiles may be kept up from either side or alternately from both sides of the ship when it is in action.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a construction whereby the destruction of the exposed part of a turret will not render the gun inoperative, and to provide means whereby the general offensive and defensive efliciency of the ship is increased and a high-speed type of battleship produced.

The invention consists of the features of construction, combination and arrangement of part-s hereinafter fully described and Specification of Letters Patent.

Original application filed May 10, 1912, Serial No. 696,495.

Serial No. 738,467.

Patented Dec. 2, 1913.

Divided and this application filed December 24,

claimed, reference being had to the accom panying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a battleship embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the same; Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through one of the main turrets; and Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view of the same.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the body or hull of the ship, which is suitably partitioned interiorly to provide any desired number and arrangement of engine rooms, bunkers, food supply storage compartments, magazines, and quarters for the officers and crew, etc. This body or hull is constructed of metal in any suitable manner and may be of any desired length and breadth. It is, however, preferably provided above the water line with straight parallel sides and terminating in pointed or wedge-shaped bow and stern portions 2 and 3. The sides of the body or hull are protected by an armor plate 3 extending from below the water line up to the fighting deck.

The ship is designed in battle to fight as as far as possible head or bow on, and the bow and stern portions are accordingly provided with heavy armor plate 4; of suflicient thickness and strength to withstand the impact of heavy projectiles. Rising from the bow and stern portions are heavily armored shields 5 which are designed to intercept and ward oii all projectiles traveling in a plane parallel with the keel line of the ship and within a certain elevation above the fighting deck. By this arrangement of armored surfaces, and the contemplated method of maneuvering the ship when in action against the enemy, but a minimum amount of broad side surface will be presented to the guns of the enemy, thus greatly diminishing the liability of the ship being struck and seriously damaged.

In the illustrated construction the ship is provided with decks 6, 7 8 and 9 arranged at suitable elevations, the first or lower deck 6 being disposed practically in the plane of the water line and the top or fighting deck 9 at a desired elevation, depending upon the size and equipment of the ship. The bow portion is provided in its sides with recesses or clearance spaces 10, in the rear walls of which are provided openings 11 for the exposure of torpedo tubes, whereby torpedoes may be directly launched from the ship toward the enemy when the ship is positioned bow on in action.

Arranged above the fighting deck is a battery of main guns 12, of a size and caliber varying according to the size of the ship, which guns, when at rest or being loaded, lie longitudinally along the center of said deck or parallel with the keel line, so as to be protected from the shells of the enemy by the bow and stern shields 5. These guns are mounted in pairs upon turrets or shields 13 which are supported by the third deck 8 and extend upwardly through openings in the fighting deck 9.

Each turret is supported by a carriage 14: provided with any preferred type of mechanism for adjusting and sighting the guns and for taking up the shock of discharge, said carriage being mounted to travel transversely from side to side of the ship on bed rails 15, between which and the carriage are interposed suitable anti-friction bearings 16. The inner faces of the rails, which latter are securely fastened to the deck 8, are provided with rack teeth 17 with which mesh gears 18 suitably supported from the carriage and connected respectively by sets of bevel gearing 19 and 20 with driving shafts 21 and 22. These shafts are adapted to be thrown by means of clutches 23 and 24: into and out of engagement with the shaft 25 of an electric or other suitable motor 26 supported by the carriage. One of said sets of bevel gearing is adapted for driving the carriage in one direction, and the other set of bevel gearing is adapted for driving the carriage in the opposite direction, so that the turrets may be shifted from a central, neutral or loading position to either side of the ship for action and back again. lVhere the sets of guns are arranged in close relation, the turret of one set may be higher than the turret of the adjacent set, so that each turret and its guns may be shifted without interfering with the adja cent turret and its guns. \Vhen one set of guns is shifted to firing position laterally beyond the keel line in either direction, a clear range is afforded for the discharge of the projectiles beyond the line of the shield 5, while when the guns are in normal position they will lie within a narrow longitudinal path or zone protected by the shield from projectiles traveling in a plane above the fighting deck and along the central longitudinal line of the ship. Projectiles striking the bow or stern of the ship beyond and in rear of the shield, will be warded off by the heavy armor plating 1. The carriage 14; is provided with suitable locking devices 1 1 to engage the rails 15, whereby said carriage and the turret may be held firmly fixed in any posit-ion of adjustment.

As stated, the ship is designed to be maintained as closely as possible when in action bow and stern on to the enemy, so as to reduce to the minimum the amount of surface exposed to the enemys guns. By properly sheering the ship within determined limits, the guns may be shifted without undue ex posure of the vessel to fire from either side thereof or alternately at sides thereof, while the guns which are in normal position are being protected. Under such conditions, there will be a practical impossibility of any of the guns being damaged or the turrets being injured, beyond the possibility of the top of a turret being carried away by a shell traveling at an angle and sufiiciently low to strike the top of the turret, which may be damaged to a certain extent without putting the guns out of service.

The arrangement of the train of guns is such that they may be fired rapidly in regular order from bow to stern or vice versa, and in such manner that while one or more guns are being discharged, others will be in loading position and protected, and still others loaded and protected while they are being made ready to be shifted into firing position.

Owing to this contemplated method of operation and mode of mounting, adjusting and protecting the guns, the ship is much less liable to be seriously damaged or its fighting equipment put out of operation than battleships of ordinary construction.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A battleship having a fighting deck and a deck below the same, carriages movable on trackways transversely of the vessel upon the lower deck, turrets supported by said carriages and extending therefrom upwardly through openings in the fighting deck, and guns mounted upon the carriages and projecting through the turrets.

2. A battleship having tapered bow and stern portions provided with upwardly projecting shields lying in the median line of the vessel, a battery of guns normally arranged to lie parallel with the vessel in the median line thereof and to be shifted laterally beyond said line to a firing position, said guns being arranged above the fighting deck of the ship, turrets extending through said deck within the ship, and means arranged below the fighting deck for shifting the guns laterally in either direction.

11%. SHE-s,

War ships,

3. A battleship having a fighting deck and a deck below the same, and provided with tapering bow and stern portions having upstanding shields arranged in the me- 5 dian line of the vessel, transverse tracks upon the second named deck, carriages movable on said tracks laterally of the vessel beyond the zone protected by the shields, turrets supported by said carriages and extending upwardly through openings in the 10 fighting deck, and guns mounted upon the carriages and projecting through the turrets. In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY M. SILVEIRA. Witnesses:

WILLIAM F. BUTLER, JOHN BORGES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

